Annealing base



March 16, 1937. J. A. BAKER ANNEALING BASE Filed May 8, 1936 seemed Mar. 16; 1937 `m'rsN'' OFFICE ao'am ANNEALING miss James A. Baker, Plttsburgl, Pa., assignor to Union Steel Casting Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corpoation' ot- Pennsylvania Application May 8. 1936, Serial No. 78,632

2 Claims.

'This invention relates to a base for supporting a charge of material during heat treatment.

Cover type furnaces such as shown in Wilson Patent No. l,952,402 have come into wide use. particularly for' the annealing of sheets. Considerable difllculty has been experienced, how ever, with the bases on which the sheets are supported during annealing. These bases are subject directly to the annealing temperature and i 10 considerable warpage and frequent iaiure thereof has been experienced with the constructions used heretofore. e

-I have invented a novel form of; basefor a cover type fumace which is well adapted to with- 15 stand the severe usageto which it is subject 'and has otherimportant "advantages over base constructions which have been used previously. In accordance 'with my invention, I provide a base comprising a plate having spaced ribs extending 20 outwardly therefrom. The plate is adapted to rest on a refractory layer supported on a suitable foundation. In the preferred form of the invention, I provide ribs on opposite sides oi' the plate so as' to make it reversible and thus increase its useful life.

A complete understandng of the invention may be obtained from a study of the accompanying drawing and the following detailed description of a preerred embodiment. In the drawing:

ao Figure 1 is a plan vie'w of the base; and Figure 2 is a partial longitudinal section through a furnace having the base incorporated therein.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the base oi my invention comprises a plate o provided on 35 opposite sides with spaced upstanding ribs ll. The base is preferably a steel casting, the ribs being integral with the plate, although this is not essential. The ribs ll are sinuous or serpentine in character. Each rib'on one side of the 40 plate has a counter part on the opposite side.

` The ribs thus overlie each other, ,but as shown in Figure 1, they are staggered relative to each other. I

A rim flange z extends around the plate lil 45 providing a channel !3 for a commlnuted sealing material such as sand. The ribs at the ends of the base have holes ll formed therein to iacilitate the attachment of crane hooks.

50 In use, the base is laid on top of a refractory layer !5 carrled by any suitable foundation and adapted to support" a cover type turnace indicated generally at IS. A bottom plate l'l is first laid on the base and a charge oi sheets, indicated at ll,

the plate.

deposited thereon. An inner cover !9 is usual y disposed over 'the charge. Its lower edge projects into the sealing material 20 with which the channel |3 is provided. The fumace coveris then lowered onto the base and the heating' cycle 5 begun.

The base construction described is particularly advantageous in that the ribs l l on the bot-. tom provide free passage for heating gases under the charge. The refractory layer 15 may be 10 notehed under the rim [2 along the sides of the base to permit heating of the lower portion of the charge by convection from the hot gases in the furnace and conduction through the base. Another advantage of the 'Construction shown is that if the base'shculd tend to warp for any reason, it may be. turned over. When again heated to the annealing temperature, the weight "ot the charge will tend to remove any warpage.

By making the-base reversible, furthermore, the useful life thereof is increased. Since the base is not attached to the refractory layer, reversal is a simple matter.

The sinuous character of the ribs II, furthermore, strengthens them against being bent down under load, and makes them self-supporting. The load on the base is transmitted directly to the foundation at the points where the top and bottom ribs intersect. There is thus no chance for bending or warping of the base. The casting of the base does not involve any serious problems.

Although I have illustrated .and described herein but one preferred embodiment of the invention, changes in the construction disclosed may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention `or the scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim: i, 4 1. A basefor an annealing cover comprising 'a piate having spaced upstanding ribs on both sides whereby when the base is laid flat on a furnace 40 hearth,'the ribs on the lower side support the plate thereabove, and the ribs on the other side are adapted to support a charge of material above 2. A base for an annealng cover comprising a plate having spaced upstanding ribson both sides whereby when the base is laid fiat on a furnace hearth, the ribs on the lower side support the plate thereabove, and the ribs on the other side are adapted to supporta charge of material above the plate, the ribs on opposite sides oi' the plate being staggered and overlapping.

' JAMES A. BAKER. 

